


The reason

by Anarik



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Banter, Boys Kissing, Developing Relationship, Domestic Fluff, Fake/Pretend Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Kissing, M/M, Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, References to Supernatural (TV), Sarcasm, Slow Build, Slow Build Derek Hale/Stiles Stilinski, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Slow To Update, Stiles Stilinski Swears, Tags Are Hard, Tags Contain Spoilers, Tags May Change, like a lot, mentions of cheating, stiles has a ghost intruder, there's a lot of swearing here
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-26
Updated: 2020-06-15
Packaged: 2020-09-26 22:20:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 16,831
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20397073
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anarik/pseuds/Anarik
Summary: Stiles' only solution is to lie. To Lydia Martin and the rest of the world. That is so not going to end well. He'll drag Derek to hell for putting him in this situation.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Teen Wolf is not mine, unfortunatelly. However this idea is, so there ya go! I prompted myself into doing this. It was supposed to be a very long one shot but when do I do things like I think them?
> 
> I'm writing this instead of preparing myself for an interview. Oh boy.
> 
> If you find typos or something, please tell me because my proofreading sucks.
> 
> Anyway! Enjoy!

Stiles is late. He’s super late. He overslept, spilled his coffee on his second to last clean shirt so he had to change, and he forgot to print his essay and had to turn back to his apartment to do that and the printer, as all printers do, smelled his fear and stopped printing mid-page. So, now he’s late. It’s his first class after the Thanksgiving break and he’s going to be so screwed because his professor already hates him and now _he’s late_.

He’s completely blaming Derek on this one because he should be the adult of the two and not let Stiles convince him to get drunk together the day before he has a nine-a.m. class. Never mind that Stiles is twenty-five, on his second semester for his masters, and Derek is a professor at the same university. It’s Derek’s fault and that is it.

When Stiles finally arrives to his classroom, the one on the fifth floor in the building that has the never-ever-working elevator, he’s out of breath, sweaty, and he feels like that time when coach Finstock made them run suicide drills in lacrosse when he was in high school. He’s dying, it’s what he’s saying. He takes a deep breath and opens the door, apology already on his mouth, when he notices that his classmates are talking to each other and looking at the door with alarmed eyes.

“He’s not here?” Stiles asks, voice faltering.

They deny and he takes a deep breath. He made it on time. His professor won’t hate him any more than he already does. Everything is good in his life again.

“Does anyone know why?”

“Nope,” Andrea answers him, offering a paper tissue like it’s a white, peace-offering, handkerchief.

“Thanks,” Stiles dries his sweat and sits beside her. “Maybe he died after eating too much these past few days?”

“Ugh, I hope so. Could you finish the essay? I pretty much melted my brain trying to come up with something.”

“I did. If I’m honest with you I didn’t proofread it. I actually finished it drunk last night. And I plan on turning it in like that.”

“I don’t know how you do it. I bet my… lungs, that you get a passing grade.”

“Dude, your lungs are the only thing you have that work right now.”

“Shut up. I’m healthy.”

“Sure.”

They both chuckle and keep chatting until someone says “guys, we can go. He’s not coming. It’s nine fifty.”

“This is the best day of my life.” Stiles says, happy smile dancing on his face.

“Same. My bed awaits.”

“Uh, yeah! I miss my pillow.”

They all exit the classroom and while they’re walking down the hall Stiles catches something out of the corner of his eye and stops. Andrea walks a few steps ahead of him until she realizes that he has stopped and turns to look at him.

“What’s up?”

“Is that David?”

“What?” Andrea moves her head a little bit and sees what Stiles is seeing. “Oh.”

“That _is_ David… I’m gonna go say hi.”

“No. Stiles. No.”

“Why not?”

“Uh, may I remind you that you two broke up?”

“That was four months ago. W-we can be friends now.”

“No.”

“But-.” Stiles turns to look at him again and sees that he’s already talking to someone. “Who is that?”

“I don’t know.”

They both stay quiet as they see David and another guy interact. It seems… friendly; they both are keeping distance between each other, but they keep touching each other’s arms and shoulders. Stiles is finding the courage to go talk to him, even if he’s talking to someone else. It’s just a friendly “hi”, doesn’t have to mean anything. And then, David leans in and kisses the other guy fully in the mouth.

“Stiles…” Andrea says, grabbing his upper arm.

“I’m gonna go home.” Stiles says, without blinking.

“Hey-.”

“Really. I’m… I’m gonna go home to get some sleep. That’s what we said, right?”

“Yeah, but.” Andrea pulls him a little bit until he’s looking at her instead of at David. “Are you ok?”

Stiles blinks at her and he swears that there aren’t tears forming in his eyes.

“I’m fine.”

“Stiles-.”

“Really.” He says after a second. “I’m- fine. I just need to sleep. I’m still hangover.” He swallows the lump on his throat and says: “Besides, I’m also dating someone. I’m happy for him.” Before Andrea can say anything, Stiles continues. “I think I’m gonna go home and drink a beer. It’ll probably help with the hangover, I read drinking can do that.”

“Dude.”

“What? I just want to test it. For science.” Stiles starts a walking quite fast for her to catch up. “See you later!”

Once he’s out of the building he takes a deep breath and dries the tears that threat to get out.

“I’m also dating someone.” He repeats, mockingly. “What the fuck, Stiles.”

*

Once he arrives to his apartment, he lets his backpack on the floor, takes off his shoes, his shirt and butt-plants on his sofa. He takes a few deep breaths, denies with his head, brings his hands to his face and then to his hair, scrubbing and tugging angrily at it.

“I’m not gonna cry.” He mumbles to himself, drying the tears with the back of his hand. “Stop, I’m not gonna cry.” He feels his phone vibrate and takes it out of his pocket, letting out a frustrated groan.

_Prof. Der.: I hate you so much._

Derek. Derek should want the hangover to go away too. Perfect drinking buddy. He fumbles with the phone as he stands up and goes to the kitchen, opening the fridge to find some leftover beer. Derek picks up with a groan and somehow that elicits a little smile from Stiles.

“Why the _fuck_ are you calling me? Let me sleep.” Derek says, instead of a proper greeting.

“You texted me.” Stiles answers, realizing that they, indeed, finished all the beer last night. “How are you feeling?”

“Like we drank our weight in beer and then kept drinking. How are you even awake?”

“I spilled my coffee on my chest this morning. That burn can wake up the dead.”

“You’re exaggerating.” He says, and Stiles can hear some rustling on the other line. “Why are you calling?”

“D’you wanna get drunk?”

“What.”

“Come here. We’ll get drunk.”

“… Stiles, it’s ten eighteen in the morning. I don’t even have class today and I think I’m still drunk from last night and you’re asking me to go up there to _drink_?”

“Welp, I need to buy more beer for the two of us but… yeah. Come here and we’ll get drunk.”

“… What happened?” Derek says, and he sounds tired. “Shouldn’t you be in class?”

“McNamara didn’t come today so I’m back at my apartment.”

“He didn’t? I hope he died from eating too much.”

“That’s what I said. Come here, Derek!” Stiles says, dragging the _e_s and whining.

“No until you tell me what happened. You never want to get drunk this early in the morning.”

“Dude, it’s happy hour somewhere, come on.”

“Stiles.”

He sighs, scratches his sculp and lets his body semi-collapse on the bar stool in his kitchen. He doesn’t say anything for a few minutes, feeling his throat closing again and the necessity to go back to his bed and hide under his blankets until everything around him disappears.

“Stiles…” Derek says softly, and he’s surprised for a second at the tone.

“I saw David today.”

“Oh…” Derek says after a second. “Did you go talk to him?”

“Nope. He was already talking to someone else…” Derek hums at him and Stiles bites his lip. “Talking and sucking his saliva out of his mouth.”

“Wha-oh. _Oh_.”

“Yup.”

“Shit.”

“Uhm hum.”

“Alright I’m coming.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, but we’re not drinking.”

“But-.”

“Stiles. Stop whining, we’re not! It’s too early for that shit.”

“But I’m heartbroken!”

“I- I don’t care.”

“Come on, Derek, it’s for science!”

“– no, we’re not going to have a beer for science. Complain all you want, I’m bringing you ice cream.”

“Do you know-?”

“Yes, I know which one you like. I am so rolling my eyes at you right now.”

“You love me.”

“Oh, fuck off.”

Derek hangs up on him and Stiles is left grinning. Derek is coming, he’s bringing ice cream and he’s sure he can convince him to have a beer or two before he goes back to his own apartment. Somehow, he’s feeling a little bit better.

*

They’re halfway down the ice cream pint, talking about what Stiles saw, their speculations for McNamara’s absence and Andrea’s reaction to seeing David as well, when Derek finally asks what he said to get out of Andrea’s concern.

“I told her that I was already dating someone too.” He answers defeated.

“That… that is so going to come bite you in the ass.”

“I know,” Stiles whines softly and groans into a pillow. “I also said that I was fine, and that I was happy for him.”

“You’re not.”

“Obviously not! I still love him! How is it that he has someone already!?”

“Well, he did break up with you so…”

“Derek, that was a rhetorical question please shut up. You’re not making me feel any better.”

“Sorry.”

Stiles keeps whining at the pillow for a few minutes, making Derek feel uncomfortable which in turn makes Stiles feel uncomfortable when he starts patting him on the back.

“You suck at comforting people”, Stiles says, turning his head and looking at him.

“I know. I suck at comforting myself.”

Stiles purses his lips and holds back a laugh, looking at Derek pointedly until he realizes what he said and starts laughing when Derek groans.

“I hate you so much.”

“Sure, big guy.” Stiles continues laughing and wipes off tears from his face. “Let’s just finish this ice cream.”

*

Stiles is checking his notifications when his screen turns black and his phone starts vibrating. A few seconds later, Lydia’s smiling face is starring at him and Stiles sighs. He would never dare to hung up on her. He would probably show up dismembered somewhere in a dumpster if he did that. He’s known that girl for most of his life and she still scares the shit out of him.

“Hey, Lyds,” he says, and Lydia clicks her tongue at the nickname.

“Don’t call me that, you know I hate it.” She answers and he smiles a little. He misses her a lot.

“I know, I know. What’s up?”

“A little bird told me you had an encounter with David a few weeks ago. Now, obviously I was waiting for you to tell me everything about it, but since you didn’t, I just had to call you and give you a little prompting.”

“Wow, you know some very talkative birds.” He answers, grumbling, thinking about who told her “Was it Derek?” he asks, because he’s only told three people: Andrea, who doesn’t know Lydia; Scott, who is also too scared of her to actually call her and who is his bro and would never do that; and Derek, who apparently knows no fear.

“I’m not going to tell you who told me.”

“It was Derek.”

“Are you going to tell me what happened?”

“There’s nothing to tell, Lyds. I saw him, he was sucking some other dude’s face, I went home, end of the story.”

“How are you feeling?” she asks, and the voice she uses makes him feel like a child.

“Why does everyone keep asking me that? I’m fine! We broke up four months ago, he can do whatever the fuck he wants and so can I! I _am_ dating someone else, Lydia, would you drop the David subject now?”

“You’re dating someone? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because all of you seem to be too invested in my love life! Leave it alone!” and he hangs up on her.

He’s so dead.

“Why am I this stupid?” he asks himself as he turns off his phone and picks up his pace towards the building he knows Derek’s in and should be finishing his last class of the day.

When he arrives, he hears Derek dismissing the class – because he’s one of those professors that use every single minute available – and he waits for all the students to leave, even the ones who are hung up by Derek’s desk, asking whatever. Once they do, he enters and closes the door, turns to Derek and holds his hand up, walking rapidly, pointing at him.

“You!” he says, and Derek looks at him confused.

“Me? What’s up, Stiles?”

“What’s up, Stiles, what’s up, Stiles.” He repeats, mockingly. “You told Lydia I saw David!”

“What? No.” Derek answers too defensively.

“Do _not_ deny it, Derek Hale, because I know it was you!”

“Did _she_ tell you that?”

“No! But you’re the only other person who knew! And you _told_ her! What the fuck, Derek, I didn’t tell anyone for a reason!”

“Which is?”

“They didn’t need to know! As far as they’re concerned, David and I are done so we don’t. Talk. About. Him. And _you_ brought that back!”

“I’m sorry.”

“Oh, sorry doesn’t cut it. I hung up on her, Derek! At this point, she probably already has fifty ways of killing me in a way no one finds my body! Oh, god, she probably told everyone already.” Stiles sits on one of the chairs and lets his head fall over the desk.

“Told everyone what?”

“That I’m dating someone,” he mumbles almost unintelligible.

“Stiles…”

“Shut up, this is all your fault.”

They both stay quiet for a second, Stiles’ brain going a mile per minute, thinking about the possible solutions to this situation. His body shoots up, eyes gleaming impossibly bright.

“It’s your fault,” and the way he says it makes Derek fear for his life as a shiver runs down his spine.

“Stiles.” Derek says, bewildered. “Do _not_ involve me in this.”

“I wouldn’t be in this mess if it weren’t for you.”

“You told Andrea the same thing!”

“And she didn’t ask any questions, nor she said anything to anyone!”, probably because she didn’t think it was true, Stiles thinks offhandedly, but Derek doesn’t need to know that. “You, on the other hand, you went to Lydia and now all of Beacon Hills population knows about this. You got me in this mess, you get me out. And I’ll drag you with me in the meantime.”

“Stiles, no…”

“You’re my new boyfriend, Derek. Start getting used to the attention.”

“I’m not going to do it.”

“If you don’t, I’ll send Cora _and_ Scott the video of you singing and dancing in underwear to Old time rock and roll.”

“You wouldn’t dare!”

“Try me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "A little bird told me..." and "You know some very talkative birds" are a wink to [will to follow through by owlpostagain](https://archiveofourown.org/works/574941/chapters/1030600). If you haven't read it, what are you doing with your life? Go and read it!


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm writing this instead of going to sleep. As always.
> 
> If you find typos or something, please tell me because my proofreading sucks.
> 
> Anyway! Enjoy!

Stiles has read and has seen shit on the media about the outcomes of faking a relationship. He’s read about people finding out and then having to explain why he did it, the embarrassment that comes after, the fun making and the distrust. He’s also watched movies about people falling in love with the person they’re faking a relationship with, which sounds so cliché and really, that only happens there, _in movies_. When he looks at his relationship with Derek, he cannot see anything more unbelievable and weird.

Yes, they’ve been friends for most of their lives, but being friends and “having a relationship” are two, completely different things. He just can’t see Derek as anything other than his friend. Derek, who was the awkward-looking step-cousin of Scott’s, who came into their lives well into their puberty years, after Melissa McCall-Delgado became Melissa Hale-Delgado. Derek, who had big teeth and big eyebrows and big ears, who was too self-conscious to laugh at any of his jokes and who didn’t like to hang out with them because he was “older”. Derek, who he saw grow into his eyebrows and his other things when he hit his twenties, and suddenly became hot and popular at college. He just didn’t see it.

Ok, he’s lying. He did see it.

But it was more of an objective, general kind of thing. Yes, Derek became hot, then came out as bisexual, then brought home a blonde girl everyone hated, then another girl no one liked, then there was Braeden, who left the country, and everyone was pretty bummed when they broke up. Then there were two boys, and no one even bothered to learn their names because they lasted one and three months each. Derek had game. But then he just stopped dating altogether and Stiles still can’t, for the life of him, find the reason why, Derek just won’t tell him.

But whatever, Stiles just can’t see Derek as something else than the guy that became his family by association, then his friend when he was struggling with his sexuality because, “um, excuse me, how can I be gay if I’ve had a big ass crush on the goddess that is Lydia Martin”, and then a response that went along the lines of “that doesn’t make you any less of a gay man, Stiles.”, and then long conversations about these topics because no one knew just yet.

And even after they found out, Stiles and Derek just kept talking, and talking, and talking. Scott sometimes gets jealous when he tells Derek something before telling him. Stiles has gotten increasingly better at not letting Scott know when Derek finds out first. The Incident From 2013 was proof enough that he needs to be extra careful.

Stiles and Derek are friends, is what he’s saying. Very good, close friends. There’s no way someone will believe they just decided to throw away almost ten years of friendship out of the window just to “try” to have a relationship. It’s just unbelievable and stupid and probably outrageous but Stiles hasn’t figured out how yet. Derek and Stiles don’t go together like that and he knows someone will see their bluff sooner rather than later.

This is exactly the reason why he’s so surprised when Lydia I Know Everything And I Know When You’re Lying Martin buys the whole thing.

“So, you two are dating?”

“Yup,” Stiles answers, turning to look at Derek, who’s very much angry.

“Yes.” Derek says, and his voice and his face don’t match. At all.

“Why didn’t you tell me before!?”

“Well, firstly because it’s still pretty new, Lydia. And number two? Because I really want to keep it a secret for the meantime.”

“Aww.”

“Yeah.”

“When did you start dating?”

Derek groans and lets his head fall into his palms as Stiles smiles crookedly.

“Well, Lyds, let me tell you about this grown ass man who didn’t understand interaction queues and didn’t realize we were dating until I pointed it out to him, item by item.”

Lydia’s snort is so unladylike that she actively tries not to do it and he’s only heard it about five times in the entire time he’s known her. And that’s longer than he’s known Derek.

“Are you serious?”

“Yeah. When he called you to tell you about David, he was very oblivious to the fact that we’d been dating for at least two weeks.”

“I’m not counting that as dating,” Derek interrupts from his gloomy corner on the couch. “One party wasn’t aware of what was happening, we weren’t dating.”

“We were, Derek. We went to the cinema; I held your hand and I gave you a kiss.”

They actually did that. The day before classes started, just before they came home to get deadass drunk.

“It was a kiss on the cheek! And it’s no different from what we do normally! And it wasn’t just a kiss on the cheek, you covered my face in your saliva because I gave you food.”

“We’re never going to agree, Der, we’ve already established that.”

They did. Before they called Lydia.

“Awww, you guys will make such a cute couple!”

They both look at each other with the same expression: head tilted to the side, eyes narrowed, lips frowned. Yeah, no, that wasn’t the answer they were expecting. Well, yeah, they _were_ expecting it because if they can fool Lydia, they can fool anyone, but their highest speculation was that she was going to see through their lie so fast they were going to end up begging her not to tell anyone about this.

Giving Lydia that much power over them wasn’t their brightest idea. Most of the time they didn’t have bright ideas together. Separately? Sure, both geniuses. Together? Not so much. See the Incident We Do Not Speak About Of 2013. And getting drunk the day before classes start again, among many others.

They end up hanging up after she gives them the best wishes she can think of. They’re both a little bit too shook to really understand what happened, but when the realization downs on them, 23 minutes and 45 seconds later, they look at each other in awe.

They fooled Lydia Martin. They can fool anyone. They can pull this off.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry for taking this long! I have two jobs now and I'm slowly dying because of that. Being an adult is not fun.
> 
> Anyway. Hope you like it! 
> 
> If you see any typos, please tell me. I'm not very good at proofreading. I just suck at that.

They cannot pull this off. If they thought fooling Lydia was the ultimate challenge, they weren’t fucking prepared for the utter train wreck that came after he managed to convince Andrea.

Stiles mostly tried to avoid the topic when he was with her but at some point, for some reason (he’s thinking Scott, he’s going to have a word with him), she found out and directly asked him. Andrea actually went to his apartment and screamed at his face when he opened the door because how could he not tell her that he was dating _Derek_, and that if it was really true. And then she asks:

“You’re not doing it just because you want to have an escape, right?”

He’s completely sure he paled. Did she figure it out? Oh, god, he’s going to have to explain his thinking behind all this situation, and he’s been avoiding doing that with all his being! Oh, no. He knew this was a bad idea, of course it _is_ a bad idea! Who the fuck would believe he and Derek have a relationship!? No one! He doesn’t know how Lydia believed it, Scott doesn’t count because after making a whole dramatic, jealous best friend scene, he was ok with it. It was almost like that scene on Friends where Ross is ok with Chandler and Monica’s relationship, just that this was a hundred times more adorable and endearing. But Andrea? Andrea has seen them interact; she knows their dynamic at school. Obviously, she would notice how _nothing_ has changed between them, she would see through their bullshit!

“Because, Stiles, you can’t go around hurting people because you’re heartbroken. David is not worth it, and Derek doesn’t deserve you do that to him.”

What?

“… What?”

She raises her eyebrows at him, and he is promptly confused.

“I’m not… what? Why the fuck would you think that I’m with Derek because I’m heartbroken?” Nicely saved.

“Well, your reaction to seeing David kissing someone else was very telling.”

“Of course, I was hurt, Andrea! It was the first time I saw him after we broke up and he was already with someone else! But I said that I was already dating someone!”

“And that someone else is Derek?” She asks, skeptic.

“Yes! Derek was oblivious to the whole thing, but we’ve been dating for a whole month.”

“Really.”

“Yes, really.”

“You swear it.”

Shit.

“Swearing is a bit too big, Andrea.”

“Swear it, Stiles.”

“I swear it.” He says after a sigh.

“Ok!” her whole semblance changes and there’s the biggest smile on her face. “Tell me everything!”

*

“You look traumatized.” Derek comments upon seeing him.

“Andrea found out and came after my ass.”

“What’s new,” Derek says, sitting beside him. “Did you tell her the truth?”

“Not a chance. She assumed I was toying with your feelings and that we were dating because I was heartbroken because of David.”

“What the fuck?”

“Yup.”

“I mean, we’re doing that, but that doesn’t have to do anything with my feelings.”

“Apparently, you’re a cinnamon roll that must be protected.”

Derek snorts at that and Stiles smiles a little bit, does a friendly push with his arm and Derek starts laughing.

“Does she not know I’m an asshole?” he asks, between giggles.

“I don’t know, I thought she did. What with the way you treated her when I introduced you two.”

“So, what did you tell her?”

“Oh, you know, the cover story. I was hurt because it was the first time I saw him in four months, and he was already dating someone else. And that we were dating even if you didn’t know we were.”

“Why do I have to be the oblivious one?”

“Because I came up with the plan and I told them I was dating someone.”

“I hate my life.”

“It could be worse.”

“How?”

“Your family could find out.”

“… Stiles, that’s more likely than you think.”

Stiles grimaces and moves his head slightly to the right, like he’s conceding the point.

“Well, we’ll deal with that when the situation presents itself.”

“Are you procrastinating coming up with a plan?”

“Yeah?”

“I don’t know why I’m asking, that doesn’t surprise me.”

“You know me too well, baby.”

“Don’t call me that.”

“But! Braeden called you that!”

“She was my girlfriend.”

“I’m your boyfriend,” Stiles says, fake-angry at him.

“Shut the fuck up,” Derek says exasperated, and Stiles just laughs.

*

So, train wreck after that. It was a whole mess. Stiles didn’t know where to hide because the stones weren’t big enough for him and Derek together. He should have known better. Shit.

There were comments along the line of “good job, Stilinski”, “I hate you so much, tell us your secret”, “I’m sure you two bang a lot, I would if I were in your position” and his personal favorite: “Fulfilling your kink of banging a professor, Stiles?” Yeah. The comments weren’t the worst part. He could downplay them and play cocky about them. But when they both were called to the Dean’s office? Yeah, that wasn’t pretty.

There was screaming. Mostly from both of their Deans, because the two of them were there. It was mostly one-sided and apparently people had created rumors about how they were banging inside the classrooms even before their relationship was public. Really, they both didn’t know where to hide.

Derek, for the most part, was doing eyebrows at him, silently asking him to tell them the truth, but Stiles wasn’t doing that. He was waiting for the right moment to interject and say his part. He saw it when both Deans took a break to breathe.

“Look,” Stiles said, and there were murderous looks thrown at him. “Derek and I have known each other for ten years now, it’s not that we met here. Derek knew me even before I had acne on my face. We just… fell in love.” He ignores the shiver that runs down his spine. “It’s a coincidence that it was here. Also, he’s teaching undergrad students, and he never taught me once. We’re in different faculties and, for the love of god, confirm your gossip before creating such a fuss. We haven’t even had sex yet.”

That was a lot of information, he told himself. Derek’s eyebrows told him that. _Both pairs of Deans’ eyes told him that_. He was embarrassed.

“This needs to end now,” one of them said.

“No.” Derek interjected. “We’re both consenting adults. He’s not some kid who I’m taking advantage of. We’re not going to break up because it’s convenient for you.”

“It needs to end.” The other one agreed.

Stiles is known for making rushed decisions, or for saying what comes to his mind without actually thinking about it. Sometimes he pushes himself further down on the devil’s mouth. Some others, like this one, he can claim that he’s the mastermind of masterminds.

“If you keep going down that path, I’m going to get out of this office and publicly declare that you two are homophobes and that you need to be replaced.”

Derek looked at him in a mix of amazement and alarm. Alarmed amazement. But he wasn’t going to back down now.

“Are you threatening us?”

“If you want to take it like that, yes.” Stiles said, defiantly. “This university claims itself to be inclusive, with so many groups that defend equal rights. But you’re discriminating a guy who has Latino heritage and a gay man. That will look great on the news.”

“Get the fuck out of my office.”

“Think about it.”

And Stiles grabbed Derek’s hand and got out of that office, head high and with a self-satisfied smirk on his face. Derek was just afraid that he would lose his job.

They didn’t hear from their respective Deans after that, and Derek never lost his job. At least not because of that, he’s sure he’ll lose it someday if he keeps getting involved in shit like this.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you see any typo, please tell me. My proofreading suuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuucks

Stiles is late. Again. This time is not to McNamara’s class, thank god, but to a meeting with his thesis advisor. It’s not that he overslept and spilled coffee on himself again, but it _is_ because his printer smelled his fear and decided that printing words was overrated and just went insane, getting paper stuck and ink spilled all over the white sheets. And no, he’s not talking white sheets of paper. He’s talking his white, bed sheets.

He hates himself so much.

In retrospect, he shouldn’t have put his printer on his bed when he was printing the first entry for his draft of a thesis. He probably needs to throw those sheets out. Or dye them, whatever is the cheapest. He’s probably going to end up using the sheets anyway, ink-stained and all. If Lydia finds out, though… Yeah, he just shivers at the thought.

“Oh god, if _Melissa_ finds out…” he murmurs to himself as he gets out of his apartment.

Yeah, no. If there’s someone more terrifying than Lydia Martin, that’s Melissa Hale-Delgado. She practically raised him after his mom died, and he and Scott have a very healthy fear of mothers. Melissa, Natalie, Talia… Yeah, they’re all terrifying women. Loving, kind and patient mothers, but terrifying, nonetheless. See, the events of most of their lives, and specially The Incident That Must Not Be Named. Lydia still brings it up when Stiles, Derek and/or Scott are being idiots. So, like, most of the time.

Anyway! He wrote a first draft! That’s something, right? It’s mostly an explanation about why he’s reading the authors he’s reading, and why they’re important for his topic, but hey, that’s better than what he handled last semester! He thinks it’s not that bad but taking into account that last semester his professor yelled at him for not knowing how to use a semi colon, he’s not that confident.

When he finally arrives to the building, he silently thanks all the deities that exist for picking an advisor with an office on the first floor, because when he heard that the thesis advisors were on the Cramphton building he immediately knew, just by hearing the name, that that thing had no elevator. It sounded so old. And boy, was he right.

He knocks on the door, softly, almost fearing that doing it loudly would upset his advisor more and waits for a “come in” that doesn’t come. Instead, the door opens, and professor Vega is looking at him with a raised eyebrow, arms crossed. Her mouth is frowned into a thin line, and her eyes express the annoyance she’s feeling at the moment.

“I shouldn’t even let you enter this office. You’re late, Mr. Stilinski.”

Stiles lets his shoulders curl up on his body as he makes himself look smaller; he grimaces. He then proceeds to explain the reason why he’s late and mentally crosses his fingers, maybe some luck will come, and professor Vega will accept his draft today.

*

There’s knocking on his door. Incessant knocking. It’s… two twenty-seven in the morning and someone is knocking on his door.

“Oh, someone better be dying.”, he grumbles as he gets out of bed.

The knocking continues as he gets closer to the door, a raging headache starting to grow at the center of his forehead. He opens the door, the knocking still going on full force, and the hallway is deserted; the knocking stops.

“Oh, you have got to be kidding me,” he almost slams the door but remembers that it’s two a.m., nobody else needs to be woken up now. “Look, motherfucker, I have a test tomorrow, I just went to sleep, if you’re gonna do something, do something now because I’m too fucking tired to deal with you right now.”

He waits for thirty seconds to see if something will happen but when nothing comes at him, he murmurs “that’s what I fucking thought” and goes back to bed.

When he wakes up, at seven thirty in the morning, his living room is completely wrecked. The sofa is upside down, his books are on the floor and the coffee table has been moved slightly to the right.

“You know what? I have no energy to deal with this shit right now. Thank you for not making it loud last night and letting me sleep, though, that was very considerate.”

“Who are you talking to?”

“Jesus fucking Christ!” Stiles jumps as he sees Derek get out of the kitchen, coffee mug on his hand. “What the ever-loving fuck, Derek?”

“You’re saying ‘fuck’ too much.” Derek comments as he drinks his coffee.

“Did you do this?” Stiles asks, pointing his living room with his hand.

“Nope, it was like that when I arrived, I thought it was you.”

“Nah, apparently is was the ghost that woke me up last night. What are you doing here, anyway?”

“Hiding.” Derek answers, and turns the sofa around so he can sit. “A ghost? Really?”

“From what?” Stiles asks, as he serves himself some coffee. “Yeah, it woke me up knocking on my door. No one was there when I opened the door. And no, before you say something, the knocking went on and on until I _actually _opened the door.”

“That’s creepy.” Derek says offhand, checking his phone. “Laura found out.”

“About what?”

Derek looks at him with an annoyed expression and his eyebrows do a little movement that clearly say _what do you think, stupid?_

“Oh shit.” Stiles sits down on his bar stool and looks at Derek carefully. “Why aren’t you freaking out?”

“Oh, I’m freaking out. She wants to come and talk to you, which means she’ll probably bring Cora.” Stiles shivers at that. “But she said that she wasn’t going to tell mom, which-.”

“Which means she has some dirt that needs to be covered, _or_ that she wants to have dirt on you.”

“Yup.” Derek sighs and scratches the back of his neck. “She’s going to expect us to act like a couple.”

“Apparently we already do, which is a shocker, let me tell you.”

“Uh-hm. But I mean like a couple, couple.”

“You mean like-.”

“Kissing, hand holding, hugs; yeah.”

“But we already do that stuff…”

“Kissing on the mouth, Stiles. So, unless you’ve ever put your tongue inside my throat and I don’t know about it, we haven’t done it.”

“Well, there was that time with the dare that-.”

“We. Don’t. Talk. About. That.”

Stiles snorts a “fine” as he finishes his coffee.

“Welp, I have a test in an hour, so I’ll be leaving. You’re welcome to stay here.” He says as he goes back to his bedroom to grab his backpack. When he comes back to the living room, he looks around the apartment and raises his voice. “It would be nice if when I come back the books are back on their shelves.”

“I’m not going to-.”

“Not talking to you.”

“O-key.”

*

Stiles gets a text from Allison Argent at ten fifteen in the morning, he’s in the middle of his test so he doesn’t check his phone until he’s out of the classroom. He trips and almost falls as he reads the text, then he starts to run through the hallway while calling Derek.

“Derek Steven Hale!” he says excited when Derek picks up.

“I know! Scott told me; I’m waiting for you at the coffee shop’s parking lot.”

“I don’t have-.”

“You do, I packed you some clothes. Get here now!”

When Stiles gets to the parking lot, Derek is standing next to the driver’s door waiting for him, and Stiles rushes as he hugs him and jumps excitedly.

“We’re gonna be uncles!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooooo, I don't know how this happened but the idea came to me and I just couldn't help but write it. I'm so sorry.
> 
> Trigger Warning: mentions of cheating. 
> 
> No actual depiction of it. This author is very against cheating.
> 
> If you see any typos please let me know. My proofreading sucks.

When they arrive to Beacon Hills, the afternoon sun is almost completely gone. Scott and Allison’s son has been born for about two hours and everyone is ecstatic. Stiles has received around thirty-five pictures of the little bundle of joy yawning, cheeks all puffed out, eyes closed and another ten holding everyone’s finger. Allison looks tired but happy, Scott’s dopey face while holding his newborn is enough telling of how excited he is; Melissa is scolding Scott about how to properly hold his son in one video his dad sent him, and then there’s a picture of her crying, being hugged by Peter.

“Aww, Scott is the first one of us to have kids, I think I’m gonna cry.” Stiles says, sniffing.

“Save your tears until you see the actual baby.”

“No,” Stiles says pouting, as he dries off his tears.

“Are you excited?” Derek comments after a moment.

“I am.” He answers smiling. “I’m an uncle. And a godfather. I’m really happy.”

Derek hums at him as he makes a maneuver to actually enter the city. Stiles stays quiet for a while, looking through the window, biting his lip.

“Do you ever want that?”

“What?” Derek asks, and he side-eyes him for a second before looking at front again.

“The white picket fence, a happy relationship, two point five kids…”

“I do.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… I mean, not the kids but. I do want a happy relationship.”

“Mmm I get that. Scott having a kid makes me wonder, you know. I think we’re the only ones left that aren’t married or in a relationship.”

“… Do you want kids?” Derek asks after a moment.

“Not really, no. Kids are cute from afar. Like, your nieces? If I didn’t know that they’re such little shits, I would totally be cooing over them.” Derek snorts at that and concedes the point. “But kids of my own? Nah, not even adopting.”

“The Stilinski bloodline dies with you?”

“Yeah… I don’t know, people blow that kind of stuff out of proportion. For example, Lydia’s been with Parrish for what, five years now? She’s called me super mad because people keep asking her when they’re going to get married and have kids and all that. Lyds doesn’t want kids, and Parrish knows this. And that’s a private thing about their relationship, you know? But she keeps getting asked these things like it’s the only thing she can do to live her full life.”

“You’ve talked to her a lot about that, huh?”

“Yeah. She has a lot of opinions.”

“That she does.”

“She’s great.”

“Indeed, she is. Parrish is a lucky man.”

“Of course, he is.”

They go back to quietness, they’re almost at the hospital and Stiles has felt a knot on his chest for the entirety of this conversation. He has one last thing to ask to Derek, and it can go south real fast.

“Why haven’t you?”

“… What?” Derek looks at him, not before checking that the red light is still on.

“You said you wanted a happy relationship, why haven’t you dated anyone else?”

Derek turns to look up front as the light changes and he starts the car again.

“I mean. What I just said is true. We’re the only ones left without a partner. Scott and Allison had a kid today, Lydia and Parrish have been together for a very long time; Jackson pulled his head out of his ass and pushed it on Danny’s ass-.”

“Gross.”

“I know, I don’t even know why I said it like that… C-Cora and Kira are planning their wedding, Erica and Boyd have been married for two years, Laura has been married for seven. Even Isaac has a significant other. You’ve dated but then you stopped, why?”

Derek licks his lips and Stiles pretends he’s not observing every movement Derek makes. He then bites his lower lip and Stiles knows that he’s going to give in. So, he waits in silence, puts his hands in between his thighs so they don’t show just how nervous this conversation makes him.

“When Braeden and I broke up, I was devastated. Maybe you didn’t see it that much because you weren’t around much at that time, but I was destroyed. I was in love with her, and I think I still love her. Believe me, if there’s a possibility that she and I can be together again, even if it’s a small chance, I’ll take it, no doubting. But around that time?” Derek sighs as he parks the car at the hospital’s parking lot. “I wanted to lock myself up inside my room and never see anyone again.”

“But… you were dating soon after that.”

“I was. And it was mostly to get her out of my head. I hurt… so many people after that. I slept around a lot with the promise of taking the other person on a date that never came. My relationships didn’t last, if it became more that a quick fuck. And I hate myself for it.”

“Derek…”

“I cheated on someone. On Eric.”

Stiles has heard that name before, and he’s trying to figure out where he’s heard it when the words register.

“… You what?”

“That’s not the worst part…” Derek lets his head fall on the steering wheel and then turns it to look at Stiles. “I cheated on him with a girl that looked like Braeden.”

“Oh, my god.”

“I am… _so_ ashamed. And I regret _so_ much. I-I asked Eric to forgive me a thousand times. And the last thing he said to me was that I didn’t get to hurt other people because I was hurt.”

“He’s right.”

“Yeah…I know that. And I knew that at the time. And I still did it” Derek bites his lip again, closes his eyes with force and sits upright. “I promised myself that I wouldn’t date anyone if I wasn’t sure about what I felt about them.”

“Well, at least you learned your lesson.”

Derek snorts wetly and murmurs a quiet “yes”, before getting out of the car and saying:

“Come on, we have a baby to meet.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO THE FIRST KISS IS HERE. I ACCEPT COMPLAINTS, SUGGESTIONS AND SCREAMS OF LOVE IN THE FORM OF COMMENTS.
> 
> If you see typos, please tell me 'cause my proofreading suxs a lot.

After meeting Victor Argent-McCall – named after Allison’s late mother, who died a year prior to the Argents moving to Beacon Hills –, Stiles and Derek take many, many pictures and try to be as quiet as possible because they’re not supposed to be there. Allison is already asleep, Scott by her side, watching her, concerned for her wellbeing after the c-section they had to perform on her. Victor is in the neonatal care room and Melissa is standing outside of the room, watching that no one comes.

“Dude, I’m so happy for you,” Stiles whispers for the tenth time.

“Thanks, man. It really means a lot that you two came. I’m sure you’re busy at school.”

“Well, I have classes tomorrow, but Derek doesn’t. I already sent an e-mail to my professors telling them that something came up with my family and that I needed to be home for the day.”

“But you’re going back tomorrow, right?” Scott asks, covering Allison’s feet.

“Eh, well-.”

“Yes, we are.” Derek interrupts, throwing him a dirty look. “We still have one week left before Winter break; we _have_ to go back.”

“What I have to do is die,” Stiles mumbles as Derek rolls his eyes.

“Stiles, you might be able to talk to your professors about letting you answer your tests online, but _I_ am the professor, I can’t do that.”

“Yeah, yeah. I know.” Stiles says annoyed. “Let’s go, Der. Buddy, you’re falling asleep standing, go sit down.”

“Yeah, I’m gonna do that.” Scott answers as he turns back. “Where are you going to stay? You can sleep at mine today.”

“Nah, bro. We’re gonna rent a room and hit the road early tomorrow. No need to worry about us.”

“Just. Don’t have sex before going away again, you’ll both fall asleep on the road.”

Stiles chokes on his own saliva and Derek pats his back to help him a little bit. When they get out of the room, Melissa has her eyebrows raised but she doesn’t say anything. _Oh god_, Stiles thinks, _if Melissa knows, then my dad knows. And then Talia knows_. A shiver runs down his spine, and if the look Derek is giving him is anything to go by, he’s thinking the same thing.

Melissa walks with them through the halls until they reach the hospital’s front desk. The women that were there when they first arrived are long gone since then, and there’s only the watchman waiting by the door.

“Mel, about what Scott said”, Stiles starts, but doesn’t really know how to continue. “Um… well-.”

“Are you two together?” She asks, directly to the point.

If there is a person Stiles has never learned to lie to is Melissa Hale-Delgado. He’s always had a tell. He can lie to his dad, to Lydia, to Scott, to Andrea. Hell, he can lie to Talia Hale. But to Melissa? Nope. He’s not capable of doing that. He feels Derek grab his hand, and he turns to look at him with surprised eyes. Derek looks uncomfortable too but determined.

“Yes,” he says, and his voice is soft but sure.

She lets out a little “oh”, and then smiles. She hugs them and says that she’s really happy for them, promises not to say anything after much convincing, and then shoos them away from the hospital.

Right when they’re getting close to Derek’s car, Stiles catches something out of the corner of his eye; he side-eyes it, a wall at the end of the hospital, the shadow of a person that doesn’t hide fast enough to be unnoticed. Neither of them says anything as they drive off into the night, looking for a hotel with vacancy. When they finally find one, they ask for a room with just one, double-sized bed, and after picking up their backpacks and closing the door, Stiles feels he can breathe again.

“So, Cora is not very subtle, huh?” he comments as he takes off his shoes.

“Nope. She’s always been very bad at stealthiness. Kinda like a guy I know.”

“Shut up, I can be sneaky if I want to be.”

“Sure.”

“… Why do you think she was spying on us, though?”

“Same reason Laura won’t tell mom?”

“I hate your family. Scheming bastards.” Derek raises his eyebrows at him, and Stiles looks terrified. “Don’t tell your mom I said that.”

“I won’t.”

Stiles thanks him with a sigh, and then tries to look out the window. There is a car parked almost directly to their hotel room, and if his sight were better – and probably with a little squinting – he would see Cora Hale looking at them with intent eyes.

“Sooooo.” Stiles starts, turning around and looking at Derek, who’s putting on sweatpants.

“So?”

“Cora’s outside. She very committed to this.” Stiles says with mix of confusement and concern.

“So, what should we do?”

“Emm… Give her what she wants?”

“… What?” Derek blinks twice at him.

“It’s gross, I know. She’s your sister and she’s expecting us to do the do.”

Derek’s whole expression says _mortification_, he rubs his eyes with his palm and says: “_why_ would you say that.”

“You know it’s true.”

“No, I know. But _why_ would you say it like that? Do you want to scar me?”

Stiles laughs as Derek playfully hits him on the face. There’s an _I hate you so much_, and then a _you love me_, before they fall quiet again and Derek goes back to do what he was doing. Stiles checks the room and realizes that between the bed and the window there’s a switch, he then turns to look at Derek, who’s channel surfing, and leaves his place beside the window for a moment.

“I have an idea.”

“I don’t like the sound of that.” Derek says, muting the TV and looking at him. “What is it?”

“What if we kiss.”

“Umm… I think you’ve gotta be more specific than that.”

“What if we kiss…” Stiles says again, raises his hands as a calming gesture when he sees Derek is going to speak again. “Wait for it… In front of the window.”

“For… Cora to see?”

“Yup!”

“I-.”

“Wait! Let me explain!” Stiles says, placing his body strategically in front of the window. “You come here, we kiss, I… jump and put my legs around your waist,” he continues uncomfortably. “You… move… me to the wall and… the switch goes off.”

“How is the switch going to go off?” Derek asks, standing up.

“There’s one right here.” Stiles points it and Derek sighs. “Come on, she’ll be able to see our shadows.”

“Why do we have to do this right now?”

“Because! When we come back for Winter break, they’re gonna expect us to _be_ like that. You said it yourself.”

“Why do I get myself in these types of situations?” Derek mumbles to himself.

“Because you can’t keep your mouth shut.” Stiles supplies and Derek throws him a dirty look.

“That was a rhetorical question.”

Derek is already in front of him, Stiles moves and places himself to the side, so Cora can see the two silhouettes through the window. Stiles talks the whole time: _place your hands on my waist_ and _now, turn your head to your left. Good, yes, _and _I’m going to put my arms around your neck… wow that’s close. Don’t laugh!_ And then, _okay, I’m going to kiss you._ And as their lips meet, Stiles feels the sudden urge to be closer to Derek, like the minimal space that was between their bodies was still too much. Derek’s hands move upwards, embracing Stiles’ back, and Stiles tangles his hands in Derek’s hair. Stiles breaks the kiss a little bit announcing _I’m going to jump now_, and a second later his legs are wrapped around Derek’s waist. They kiss again for brief seconds as Derek moves and delicately shoves Stiles against the wall. Stiles lets go one of his hands from Derek’s hair to blindly look for the switch, as they keep kissing, and when the light is finally off Derek takes a step back and Stiles falls to his feet.

“Wow, ok…” Stiles says, taking a step to the side while looking at the floor and wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “I-I never thought you’d be that good of a kisser.” He’s sure his mouth is swollen and that his cheeks are red because of Derek’s beard.

Derek punches him softly on his shoulder and turns around. “Flattery will get you nowhere, Stiles.”

“Au contraire, my friend. Flattery has gotten me _everywhere_. You’ve seen it. You’ve benefited from it. I distinctly remember that one time-.”

“Stiles, shut up.”

“Fine,” Stiles says, feeling a little bit more relaxed.

It’s not weird. They just kissed, but it’s not weird. They’re both acting normal, bantering and annoying each other. _And it was a staged thing_, Stiles tells himself, _I told Derek where to put his everything so this looked kind of real_. _There's nothing to worry about._

“Welp, I’m gonna sleep now.” Stiles says, turning around and throwing himself to the bed. “You’re welcomed to join me.”

“Yeah, I think I’m gonna do that. We have to get up early.”

“Yup. And then we’ll go back to be responsible adults.”

Derek snorts as he lays himself on the bed. “Adults, yeah. Responsible? Not so much.”

“Shut up.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been almost 2 months since I updated. I want to apologize for that.  
I haven't had much time to do anything else that is not sleeping on my free time. Balancing two jobs (one full time and one part time), while also trying to have social life is very, very hard.  
Luckily, I'm now on vacations from the part time job until February. The other one, though, I have to wait until the 18th for that and we come back on January 12th. I'm gonna cry.  
Guys, being a teacher is hard.  
Help.
> 
> But whatever. I've been trying to write this chapter for as many months and I've finally finished it. I'm really happy. MORE KISSING!!!!
> 
> If you see typos, please tell me 'cause my proofreading suxs a lot.

Kissing doesn’t happen again for the next week. They don’t even see each other for that many days, mostly because they’re both busy making and grading tests in Derek’s case, and writing essays and presenting tests in Stiles’ case. What they’ve been doing, though, is texting. Like a lot. Stiles has changed Derek’s contact name from _Prof. Der. _to… Well, there was some thought put into that. Stiles felt uncomfortable with the names he came up for Derek on his phone. He tried with _Derek _and a blue hear but he changed it because it reminded him of how he had David saved on his phone. He then tried _My Big Guy_, but that sounded so much like he was naming Derek’s penis and Andrea laughed so much she almost cried. He changed it to _Big Guy_ next, but it got confused with the name he’d previously set for Boyd. He remembered the way Laura called him when she teased him, _Der-Bear_, but even if he tried to say it out loud, it made him feel awkward. In the end, and after changing it about eight more times, Stiles settled for _Der,_ space and a purple heart.

It’s been a little been weird. They haven’t seen each other since they came back, and inside the car there was an awkward atmosphere that Stiles couldn’t quite shake up, not even with jokes about the whole situation. They came back to the awkward silence every single time and in the end, Stiles decided to leave it like that and sleep until Derek told him to switch seats. However, once they came back and didn’t see each other, the awkwardness tuned down a bit because of the texts.

_Der _ _💜_ _: are you busy tonight? Laura is arriving today._

** _Me: I have to print my second entry for my thesis so I have it ready for tomorrow and then I’m all yours._ **

_Der _ _💜_ _: do it here. We know how your printer gets when you need something important._

** _Me: I think it’s the ghost that haunts my apartment. They like to mess with me._ **

_Der _ _💜_ _: I don’t know how you’re so blasé about living with a ghost. Either way, print it here. At least you know it won’t go crazy and will actually print._

** _Me: Ok! Let me grab my laptop and I’m there._ **

*

Derek is nervous. Correction: Derek is scared shitless. Laura is not even there, and Derek is pretty much trembling. His voice falters every time he tries to talk, he’s almost let fall the plates three times and, if Stiles weren’t there, the glasses would have suffered the same fate.

“Derek,” Stiles says, grabbing him by the shoulders. “Buddy, you need to relax. I can’t deal with you nervous.”

“I don’t understand how you’re not more nervous!” Derek complains, getting out of Stiles’ hold.

“Hey, come back.” Stiles says, following him. “Derek, we’ve already talked about this, and you know Cora’s not coming. Relax.”

“Look, you’re scared of Cora, I’m scared of Laura. She’s my twin, she’ll know something is not ok between us.”

Stiles is taken aback by that. What does he mean? Is he talking about the awkwardness after the kiss? If he is, then Stiles is going to have to explain why he’s been acting a little bit weird since the kiss, and he really doesn’t want to do that. Avoiding things until they eventually go away is his best (worst) coping mechanism, if Derek addresses that now, he’s going to panic.

“I mean, we’re supposed to be a couple, but we’re not comfortable with each other in the physical sense.” Derek continues, and Stiles raises his eyebrows. That was not what he was expecting.

“Are you suggesting that we have sex?” Stiles asks, smirking.

Derek looks at him with an unimpressed expression on his face, and then he turns around to turn the flame on.

“No. I’m not talking about us having sex, that would be weird. I’m _saying_ that we’re not big on PDA and we’re supposed to be dating. Hell, we’ve been “dating” for a little more than a month.”

“We’ll say that that’s who we are.” Stiles says, almost dismissively.

“Have you forgotten that this is my _twin sister_ we’re talking about? My _twin sister_. Who is a lawyer and can smell a lie within reach? My _twin sister_, who probably knows us better than us? My _twin sis_-.”

“Oh-kay, I get it! But she doesn’t know how I was with David, and even if she knew how you were with Braeden, it’s been literal years since that’s been the case. People change, Derek, and every relationship is different.”

“I still think we need to do something.” Derek says after a minute.

Stiles groans, turns around and gets out of the kitchen. Derek can be stubborn sometimes and when something gets in his head, he’s either determined to go through with it or something more important will come up that will make him forget. The latter is not something that’s likely to happen right now.

“What do you suggest?” Stiles asks, sitting on the bar stool. “Because if you’re telling me all this stuff is because you already have something in mind, I know you.”

Derek has the decency to look sheepish and embarrassed, like what he’s going to propose is probably not something Stiles will agree with. Stiles feels a little tremor go down his spine; what could it possibly be? Derek knows that Stiles will agree. Stiles will follow Derek almost blindly to everything. Probably.

“I think we should kiss.”

Ah. That. Yeah. That is, probably, the only thing Stiles should step up and draw a line for, shouldn’t he? Although, why should he? They’re friends and neither of them feel something more than friendship towards the other. It would be stupid if he says no, considering he was the one that suggested it first, a week ago.

“I mean, I was the one who suggested we kiss last week, why would I say no now?”

“Who knows what’s going on in your head?” Derek answers, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel.

“So, what, we’re going to kiss until we’re comfortable with the other being inside our personal space bubble?”

“How do you say so many words and somehow make them have sense?”

“It’s a gift. It helps me a lot when writing essays.” Stiles says cheekily.

Derek gets out of the kitchen and Stiles just knows that he’s rolling his eyes, even if he’s not looking at him. Just, the whole posture gives it away.

“Ok, so how should we do this?” Stiles asks, turning around on the stool.

“I’m pretty sure you know how to kiss.”

“Not what I meant, you’ve had my tongue inside your mouth, I just meant that should I initiate or should you? There are so many ways this could go, I’m just wondering how we should start.”

“I’ll kiss you, just shut up.”

“So bossy,” Stiles says sarcastically.

Derek rolls his eyes and places himself in between Stiles’ legs, Stiles raises his eyebrows at that and shrugs. Derek raises his hand and hesitates, not knowing where to place it. Stiles rolls his eyes and grabs it, putting it on his face. Derek leans down and Stiles lifts himself up a little bit, meeting him in the middle.

It somehow feels different from the kiss they shared a week ago. It’s a lot more tender, for starters, and there’s a lot less tongue too, although it escalates from there. Soon enough, Stiles’ arms are hugging Derek by the neck, and even if Derek’s weight is somehow uncomfortable almost on top of him, it’s not like he’s going to tell him to stop. They break the kiss for only a second, and then they start kissing again at a different angle and with renewed breath. Stiles stands up, surging forward and almost making them fall on the floor, but Derek stabilizes them pushing Stiles against the breakfast bar he was sitting at just a few moments ago.

In the end, they manage to end up in a somewhat similar position from when they started kissing: Stiles sitting down and Derek in between his legs. However, this time, Stiles is sitting on top of the breakfast bar, his legs are wrapped around Derek’s waist, Derek’s hands are on his back, under his shirt, and Stiles’ hands are tangled on Derek’s hair. Stiles is not going to deny that this feels good, even if he’s still denying everything else about this situation.

“Oh, ho-ho, am I interrupting something?”


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I thought of this thoroughly and I think that Laura wanting to visit alone only meant that she really needed someone to talk to. I also thought that Derek being exposed to the other side of the situation can be very eye opening for him, but you'll be the judge of that. 
> 
> Family situations, teasing and mentions of cheating. This author does not condone any cheating behaviour and is just using it to address trauma and to face consequences of one's actions.
> 
> Aside from that, the whole constantly kissing is beginning and I want you to love me.
> 
> If you see typos, please tell me 'cause my proofreading suxs a lot.

Laura is standing there, under the kitchen’s entry arc, smirking at them, though the amusement doesn’t reach her eyes. One hand is grabbing the handle of her suitcase, the other is inside her pocket.

“Laura!” Derek says, taking a step back and forcing Stiles to disentangle his legs.

“Your sister has a key to your apartment,” Stiles murmurs, jumping off of the breakfast bar, “why does your sister have a key to your apartment?”

“Oh, I don’t!” Laura says, as she kisses both Stiles and Derek on the cheek. “I rang the door like five times, and nobody answered. Then I checked under the rug and there it was! Honestly, Derek, one of these days someone is going to rob your apartment.”

Stiles chuckles and gets out of the kitchen, giving them a little bit more of space, but Laura’s voice is not quiet, so he hears her perfectly when she says:

“What is he doing here?”

And her voice sounds hurried, sad and somehow at the verge of tears. Stiles frowns and wonders if he should leave, he comes back to the kitchen, mouth already running,

“Hey, Laur, if you need me to go, I’ll go.”

And she’s crying, Derek’s holding her tight and is looking at him with a concerned expression. Laura never cries. She didn’t cry when she fell from a tree and broke her arm in three parts. She didn’t cry when their dad died, as she was holding Derek’s and Cora’s hands while _they_ did. Laura just. Didn’t. Cry. In front of other people, of course.

“No,” she says sobbing. “No, you came here to…”

“To have dinner with you,” Stiles rushes to say when she finds herself without words.

“Yeah, that. To have dinner with us.”

“Look, let’s do this. I’m not that hungry and I’m sure Derek isn’t either. So… how about I stay here, finish dinner and you two go to his bedroom and talk?”

“Stiles, the only thing you know how to cook is pasta.” Derek says, making Laura chuckle.

“And that’s why I keep you around. Honestly, though, were you planning on making something else?”

“Nope.”

Laura and Derek get out of the kitchen and Stiles watches them go. It’s so weird seeing Derek hold Laura’s hand instead of the other way around; she looks small, sad and afraid. Stiles feels a pang on his chest once he hears them close the door.

*

The door is closed behind them and Laura is crying again. Derek doesn’t really know what to do, his sister has always been the pile that holds together their entire sibling dynamic. Their entire lives, Laura has been there for Cora and Derek, nuzzling them or scolding them, or both at the same time.

Laura.

She’s strong, stubborn and smart. She’s not this sad shell of a woman, with dark circles around her eyes.

She sits on his bed, bending her body onwards and holding her head on her hands.

“What happened, Lo?” Derek asks, walking towards her and sitting.

“There’s nothing I can do now.” She murmurs, “this whole thing is so fucked up and I hate him!” she turns to look at Derek, eyes and cheeks red.

“Who?”

“Alex! I hate him so much.”

“What happened?” Derek asks again, feeling himself fill with rage.

He’s never liked Laura’s husband. He’s arrogant, rude and selfish. He’s always bad-talked his own family, always tried to avoid the subject, and the first and last time he visited the Hale house, he said something nasty about their father and uncle Peter had to get him out of the house before his mom, Cora, Laura and Derek himself kicked his ass. They broke up for a month and a half, and then got back together because… well, let’s just say that Derek’s nephew is the sweetest toddler ever.

“Laura, what did he do?” Derek asks, seeing that Laura didn’t answer.

“He’s been cheating on me.”

“He’s whAT!?”

Laura scowls at him and rolls her eyes. She turns to look around the room and sighs, closing her eyes and letting her body fall on top of the bed.

“I don’t give a fuck if he cheats or not. We have three kids, you know. He’s supposed to be a little bit more careful.”

“You knew that he was cheating on you?” Derek asks, surprised.

“Oh, Derek, that’s the reason we split up initially, before I even knew I was pregnant with Adam. He cheated on me and then he continued to do that.”

“Why are you still with him!?”

“We have three kids, Derek. Sammy and Helena adore him, and I _know_ that he’s going to forget he has three kids with me, he’s that type of person. That’s why I’m still living with him. Adam is even mad at him.”

“What happened.” Derek says.

“He got a girl pregnant. The funniest part is that she didn’t even know he had a wife and kids! I talked to her, she was so embarrassed and ashamed!”

“Leave him.”

Laura’s eyes tear up again and she covers her face with her hands, as she begins to sob. Derek doesn’t know if he should hold her or let her cry alone. He decides to play with her hair, turning to his side and letting his mind wander around his memories. He wonders if Eric ever had to go to someone and cry because he did the same thing to him. His stomach turns and he feels like throwing up. Laura stops crying after a while and he wonders if she came to a solution.

“I’m afraid I’ll disappoint mom,” she murmurs, looking at the ceiling.

“Disappoint her? Why?”

“Because she just… she talks to her whole extended family about how no one has divorced in fifty years. I don’t-I don’t want to be the one who breaks that.”

“Laura, mom won’t care!” Derek says, sitting up again. “She cares about your wellbeing; she won’t give a fuck about the divorce thing! She wants you to be happy, you know this.”

“And what if she tells me that we can try more, and to think of our kids, and to forgive him?”

“Since when do you listen to mom?” Derek asks, wondering out loud and remembering their teenage years. “Sorry.”

Laura snorts at first, it sounds wet and humorless, but then she starts to laugh and it’s almost maniacally and he fears that Stiles can hear her laugh. Her laugh turns into crying again and Derek decides to hug her.

“You’re right,” she says, sobbing. “I’ve never listened to mom. If I did, I wouldn’t _be_ in this mess. Fuck, I’m so stupid.”

“You aren’t. You are the smartest person I know. You panicked, and it turned out like this. You still have time to turn around and start again, with your three kids.”

“She will tell me I told you so.”

“That she will.”

“But then she will hug me, right?”

“Of course!”

“Will you come with me?”

“Err…”

“Ha-ha! I knew it! You’re afraid of her.”

“Of course, I am, have you seen her mad?”

“Der, I’m your big sister, she always came to me first before the scolding arrived to any of you.”

Derek groans and pushes her out of the bed. “You’re only four minutes older, Laura. Stop talking shit.”

“She came to me!”

“Uh-huh.”

“She did!”

They both laugh after looking at each other intensely for three minutes straight. He’s sad for her, but she looks a lot happier now. They sit down again, holding hands like when they were kids, and it feels a lot more like that time, Laura holding Derek instead of the other way around.

“So, you and Stiles, huh? You were pretty distracted when I came in.”

“Oh, fuck off!” Derek pushes her off the bed again, and Laura laughs for a whole minute, chuckling every single time she catches a glimpse of him.

*

Stiles doesn’t hear anything coming out of Derek’s room for a long while. Then, all of a sudden, he hears Laura laugh and he almost drops the pan in which he’s salting the champignons; it doesn’t sound that happy, though, it sounds broken and maniac. Stiles wonders if Derek is ok or not. He decides to shrug it off, give them space. If Derek screams homicide then he’ll go check on them, if not, his nose belongs on his face and nowhere else.

After fifteen minutes, or something like that, Stiles isn’t counting (he is), Derek and Laura come out of the room. Laura is laughing happily, and Derek looks frustrated and everything is good in the world again.

“Okay, guys, dinner will be ready in ten, so… sit down and wait. Thank you.”

“Let me help you,” Derek says, entering he kitchen.

“Nah, everything is done, Der. I’m just waiting for the pasta to cook.”

“Let. Me. Help. You.” Derek repeats, pointedly.

“Yes, Stiles! Let your boyfriend help you!” Laura says from the living room and Stiles raises his eyebrows, turns to look at Derek, and his cheeks are tinted red.

“I see that she’s ok with it.” Stiles murmurs.

“More than ok. Save me.”

Stiles laughs and turns to look at her. She’s looking at them with amused eyes and Stiles smirks. Derek’s looking at the pasta, stirring it once, when Stiles grabs him by the arm and pulls him.

“Thank you, babe,” Stiles says, and Derek frowns.

“You know I don’t l-.” Stiles interrupts Derek giving him a peck on the lips.

Laura laughs delightedly, saying in between laughs _Oh, my god! Look at his face,_ and Stiles laughs harder the redder Derek’s face gets.

“I hate you both.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE LEAVE ME COMMENTS I LIVE FOR THE COMMENTS I LOVE COMMENTS PLEASE AND THANK YOU COMMENTS!!!


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello!
> 
> I know I told some of you in the comments that I would have this chapter posted before the year ended but! My trip took longer than expected and then I went down with gastroenteritis; had fever of 39ºC too, for almost three days. It was so fun! :))))
> 
> But I'm doing good now, I think haha. So, I finally finished the chapter and I bring this to you! I hope you like it!
> 
> Also, Happy Holidays, everyone! And Happy New Year <3
> 
> If you find typos or something, please tell me because my proofreading suxs, like a loooooooooot.
> 
> Anyway! Enjoy!

For the first time in the whole semester, Stiles turns an entry for his thesis on time. His professor was impressed for how early he turned it in, and that's saying something. He decides that he's going to print the remaining essays and entries on Derek's printer from now on. But that will have to wait until next year because Christmas holiday is finally here. Derek has to stay three more days, so Stiles decides to rearrange his apartment for when he comes back, moving sofas and the TV. He knows that he will have to arrange it again to the way it was before he moves out, but he likes to have everything settled to his own liking.

For some reason, Derek and Stiles have taken up kissing as a dare: who can sneak more kisses to the other, surprising them in the process? Stiles has more than 20 pictures of Derek's face after each one of the kisses ends, and it's hilarious. Derek also has an album with just Stiles' expressions, but that's because he likes making stickers out of his face and using them on Whatsapp. Stiles saves them all because it's really funny having his own expressions participate in a text conversation.

When Derek's third day is finally over – and that is at 3 in the afternoon, Stiles doesn’t want to know what he had to do – he looks like he's going to die. Stiles is as fresh as a lettuce, but Derek looks like he wants to sleep until New Year's, so Stiles offers to drive them both to Beacon Hills and Derek, sleep deprived as he is, gives him the keys to the Camaro without any complaint, and Stiles is just as excited as he is worried.

They make one stop to refill the tank, and Stiles buys two, big tubes of Pringles, storing them for when Derek wakes up, which happens about three hours before they arrive.

"I saw we stopped at a gas station," Derek says, surging forward.

"Ah, he lives. I was starting to worry."

"Did you buy anything to eat?" Derek asks, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, they're in the backseat."

Derek turns and grabs the paper bag, sticks his arm inside, eyes almost closed, only to open them big and stare at Stiles with surprise.

“You bought me Pringles?”

“Yup.”

“I think I love you.”

“After more than ten years of friendship, I would say that’s a given. But it is really nice of you to say it, thank you.”

“Don’t ruin it.”

Stiles snorts and turns the volume up; now that Derek is awake, he can listen to music at whatever volume he pleases.

“Are you… are you listening to Britney Spears?” Derek asks, mouth full of chips.

“Yes.”

“Why?” He grimaces.

“It’s my guilty pleasure playlist.”

“Stiles.”

“Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his… chips hole.”

“This is my car.”

“And you gave me the keys.”

“We’re stopping at the next gas station.”

“What? Nooooo, Dereeek!”

“I need to pee.” He says, rolling his eyes.

“Ugh, fine. But I’ll drive us to Beacon Hills. You look like someone ran a truck all over you.”

“Gee, thanks. It’s always so good to hear such sweet words from my boyfriend.”

“I care about you! Would you like me to lie to you and tell you you look like you just woke up from your beauty sleep in a garden full of daisies?”

“… you are so specific sometimes.” Derek comments, frowning. “But no. I wouldn’t even believe you.”

“See? Honesty is the key of this relationship.”

Derek snorts as he throws a handful of chips inside his mouth. “Sure. Just like we’ve _been_ honest about the nature of our relationship.”

“Shut up. Everyone believed us. At this point, I don’t even care anymore.”

“You’ll care when your dad finds out.”

“Probably. But! The good thing is that I sleep at my dad’s house, and you at your mom’s. At least there won’t be any uncomfortable situations.”

“Sleeping with me is uncomfortable?” Derek asks, raising his eyebrow.

“Meh, I’m just not used to it. You breathe very heavily when you sleep. Woke me up a few times that night.”

“So, you’re telling me I snore.”

“Nope. I’m telling you that when you sleep you breathe like this.” Stiles says before starting to breathe exaggeratedly heavily, opening his nostrils every time he inhales, making a sound each time he exhales. “Like that.”

Derek raises his eyebrows and sighs.

“Yeah! Just like that! Like what you just did!”

“I was just sighing!”

“Oh.”

Stiles raises his shoulders, like he’s telling Derek that he’s letting the subject go. Derek rolls his eyes and continues to open the second tube of Pringles. He scratches his eyes a little bit and turns to look out the window, completely ignoring that Stiles is starting to mouth the words of a Backstreet Boys song. Derek knows the lyrics. He _knows them by heart_. But he’s not going to sing the song with Stiles, no matter how much he wants it. He’s not going to give Stiles that power over him.

“Hey, what should we do if our parents find out?” Stiles asks, right when everyone stops singing, but the music continues.

“I don’t know. Continue with the lie, I guess? It’s not like we have another choice.”

“No, yeah, I know that. I mean,” Stiles takes a breath “we’re supposed to be “hiding” it from them; if they find out, I suppose they expect us to change the way we act around the other.”

“We haven’t done that. Not even in front of my sister.”

“She found us kissing.”

“So? It’s not like it was the first time, and it certainly wasn’t the last one.”

“Hmm, kinky.” Stiles smirks, side eyeing Derek, and then laughing when he hits him with the Pringle tube. “I suppose that if they find out, we’ll have to start kissing in front of them.”

“Yeah.”

“Is that ok?” Stiles frowns a bit, turns the volume down and looks at Derek for a split second. “Like, if I kiss you out of nowhere in front of my family, or yours, you won’t freak out?”

“It’s ok as long as you don’t take pictures of my face.”

“But that’s the fun part!”

“They will find that suspicious.”

“Fine.” Stiles says pouting.

“But only if they find out.”

“But only if they find out.” Stiles agrees.

For some reason, both of them felt like that was the first thing they were going to do once they arrived.

*

The next gas station turns out to be an hour and half away from Beacon Hills, and Derek is at the verge of killing himself. Stiles offers from time to time to stop somewhere so he can get out of the car and pee behind a tree but every time he mentions it, Derek reminds him that his mom never, ever let him do that when she was raising him, and he’s not going to start now. Also, he feels gross when he doesn’t wash his hands.

“You’re a germophobe.” Stiles comments, rolling his eyes.

“If you didn’t wash your hands before touching my baby when we stopped the first time, I’m gonna kill you and leave your body here.”

“Relax. I didn’t go to the bathroom there, I have a steal bladder.”

“Uh-huh.”

Derek takes out his phone, ignores the messages he has unanswered and opens the Clock app; he sets an alarm to ring in two hours, then adds a description on it to remind himself.

“You’re setting an alarm to remind you to clean your car, aren’t you?”

“Yep.”

“Germophobe.”

Derek rolls his eyes and proceeds to check his messages. He has two new emails, fourteen Whatsapp messages and two text messages. One of the emails is from a student that asks him for an extension on the deadline for a paper, he rolls his eyes and decides to ignore it until they arrive; and the other one is about 40% off of baking supplies. He saves that one for later, preferably when Stiles is not around so he can decide, in peace, what he’s going to get him for Christmas. The two text messages are from the phone company, reminding him that he has to pay his bill, and Derek rolls his eyes annoyed.

The Whatsapp messages are from Laura, his mom, Erica and Scott. Laura asks him if they can buy her a cheesecake; Talia’s messages are good wishes for the trip, and to tell her when they’re arriving so she can have something to eat fixed for the both of them (he answers her that he’ll do it, and thanks her in advance); Erica says that she wants to hear all of the juicy details of his new relationship and he sighs, sending her a sticker of Stiles’ face, the one he makes when he’s scared, and Erica answers almost immediately by laughing and then saying _aaaawwww_, all in caps. Derek ignores the last message, the one that comes after all the cooing, because he has dignity god damnit (it’s about how much he supposedly loves his boyfriend for making stickers of his face. He’s not going to dignify that with an answer, thank you very much). Scott’s messages are four photos of Victor, at entirely different angles, all blurry and sloppy.

“Fuck.” Derek facepalms and blocks his phone. “I completely forgot Victor existed.”

“How? Scott sends us pictures of him almost every day.”

“I don’t check my phone, ok!? I don’t have a Christmas present for him!”

“Well, there’s still time. And if you don’t find anything, I can always put your name on the card.”

“What did you buy him?”

“Chewy toys.” Stiles smiles at him innocently.

“It’s a Chewbacca chew toy, isn’t it.”

“Yep,” Stiles pops up the “p”, proudly.

“You’re so predictable.”

“You love me like that.” Stiles says, smiling big.

“Only god knows why.”

Stiles laughs a lot later, when he pulls at the gas station, screaming “Don’t forget to wash your hands!” at Derek, who flips him without turning around after he practically bolts out of the car, and then he coughs like his life depends on it after he almost kills himself with his own saliva. If, when Derek comes back, he’s still a little bit red, Derek doesn’t need to know why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alrighty! So that was a thing! I hope you liked it! We're soon going to begin the drama of a fake relationship in front of your parents, yay! If you want to like, talk to me or something, you can find me on [T U M B L R](https://theanarik.tumblr.com/). I reblog lots of stuff on there and I always check my DMs, so. Yeah. That!
> 
> Eh, if you want, you can also check the image I was talking about up there, it would be this one
> 
>   

> 
> Lastly: HELLO I LOVE COMMENTS PLEASE LEAVE COMMENTS I'M A WHORE FOR COMMENTS COMMENTS MAKE ME HAPPY LOVE ME SOME COMMENTSSSSSSS (?). Thank you <3 


	10. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! Oh my god. My external hard drive decided to die on me and I've been panicking for two months because I thought I wouldn't be able to get this story back. But I recovered it! I won't say I fixed it because, let's be honest, I really didn't. But I still have this and some other stories I was writing! I'm so happy.
> 
> This has siblings fighting. 'Cause you know I wove my drama. Also, quiet and implicit realizations. Caaaan you catch them?
> 
> Hope you like it!

When they finally pass the Welcome to Beacon Hills sign, it’s almost 7:00 p.m. and Derek has already texted his mom. They pull at the Hale house almost thirty minutes later, after they stopped to leave Stiles’ luggage at his dad’s house; they haven’t even parked and there’s people already coming out of the house to greet them. Once they step out, the first ones to wrap their arms around them are Laura and Talia, followed then by a reluctant Cora and three kids. Peter is watching from the sideline with an amused expression that almost borderlines with mocking. After everyone has said their “hello”s and their “how are you”s and their “how was the trip”s, Peter comes closer and says:

“So, anyone’s going to point out that Stiles was the one driving the Camaro or are we ignoring that?”

Stiles’ face is blank, Derek has his eyes closed and everyone else is looking at Peter with raised eyebrows. He raises his hands, trying to fake innocence and retreats, laughing, to the house.

“I’m sorry,” Laura says. “I told them.”

Derek purses his eyes even harder, as his mouth becomes a thin line and his frown deepens. Everyone is watching them both, taking turns to look at their reactions, just to know what the best thing to say is. Stiles closes his eyes too, massaging the bridge of his nose and then they both sigh at the same time. They open their eyes, the same expression on their faces and say “yes, we’re dating”, in almost the same monotone voice.

Talia’s face transforms and shows the biggest smile there is, and rushes to hug them saying “I’m so happy for you” to them both, to which they look at each other and silently, almost telepathically, say “yep, we’re keeping the act on”. Stiles smiles, and plays his part perfectly, even under the scrutiny that is Cora’s stare, and Derek pretends that he’s happy everyone knows they’re a thing in front of his mom, but not missing a moment to look at Laura like he’s going to eat her for telling everyone else.

Laura has the decency to look sheepish at the beginning, but then she starts to roll her eyes when Derek’s bitch face keeps appearing near her person. After dinner, Cora leaves, saying something about picking Kira up, and Stiles helps Derek gather the dishes and then wash them, as everyone else say their goodbyes and good nights. Peter tells Talia that Melissa has a double shift, so the house is empty, but he actually needs to go back because sometimes Scott goes over there in the middle of the night. Stiles snorts and ignores the amused and annoyed look Peter and Talia give him, respectively. Laura’s kids are already upstairs, and they’re probably asleep at this point, so the house feels a bit quiet.

Until the three of them hear a very distinct “Oh, for fuck’s sake, Derek, grow _up!_”, in Laura’s voice.

Stiles feels his stomach drop and he just _knows_ what they’re talking about. When he gets to the kitchen, Derek’s face is red, and he looks absolutely mad. Laura’s back is turned to him but once he’s in front of her and by Derek’s side, he can see that she looks just as upset as Derek seems.

“You don’t get to decide if it’s okay or not to talk about my relationship with Stiles!” Derek almost yells, and Stiles closes his eyes, sighing. “It’s not up to you!”

“Oh, get over it, Derek. I don’t get why you’re so upset about this!”

“You don’t get it?” Derek laughs, and it’s devoid of any humor. “What if we decided that we’re better off as friends, hm? What if we come here and everyone is expecting us to be a couple because _you_ opened your _big_ mouth and we’re _not_? We didn’t say anything for _fucking _reason, Laura, and it’s not up to you to decide if it’s okay or not.”

“It’s not that big of a deal, Derek. You’re not broken up, it didn’t get awkward and all is good in the world.”

“You always do this,” Derek says, then turns to Stiles. “She always does this. She fucks up and then doesn’t want anyone to call her out on it. She always minimizes the shit she pulls.”

“Derek…” Stiles says, grabbing his arm, but Derek seems to ignore the touch.

“What if I told mom about you and-?”

“Don’t”, Laura says, her face and her tone growing impossibly harder. “It’s not your place to say anything about that.”

“Ah, so it’s not my place to talk about your relationships, but it _is_ your place to talk about mine. You’re so fucking cynic.” Derek grabs Stiles’ hand, the one that has been resting on his arm, and starts tugging him away from the kitchen. “If you ever pull this shit again, expect me to do the same to you. Back off, Laura.”

*

Derek tugs Stiles until they’re inside his old bedroom. They don’t bother to turn the lights on, as Stiles can see inside the room because of the lighted hallway. Derek’s breathing heavily, and Stiles almost thinks that he’s having a panic attack, but after a second he takes a deep breath and lets it all out slowly, calming himself down.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that.”

“It’s ok, I was trying to avoid something like that from happening, though. I thought she was upstairs with her kids.”

“I thought so too, but when I turned around, she was leaning against the kitchen door looking so _amused_,” he almost spits the last word before continuing, “that I just lost it.”

“Yeah, I get it. And I get that you’re upset, but I don’t think bringing up whatever happened to her was a good idea.”

Derek’s hum is very low on his throat, like he knows Stiles is right, but he doesn’t want to admit it. “Maybe. But she kind of had it coming.”

Stiles knows Derek’s not going to change his mind anytime soon, so he decides to drop it for the moment. They stay silent for a little while, breathing in sync and Stiles feels the tiredness of driving the whole day suddenly. He yawns, scratches his eyes with his fists and leans a little bit onto Derek’s right shoulder. Derek places his hand on Stiles back and starts petting him, moving his hand up and down, up and down.

“I’m sorry, Stiles.” Derek murmurs then, leaning his head on top of Stiles’. “I understand now why you were so upset. I’m sorry I told Lydia about you and David. It wasn’t my place and I should have just stayed quiet.”

Stiles hums and nuzzles Derek’s neck, leaning his body completely on Derek’s and letting his eyes rest for a second.

“What’s done is done, Der. It’s okay now, though. Something good came out of it.”

“You mean… you mean “us”?”

“Uhm-hmm. I don’t think I could have done any of this with someone other than you.”

“Right.” There’s a few seconds of silence before Derek clears his throat and says “come on, let’s get you home, you’re falling asleep.”

*

The next few days, Derek and Stiles don’t actually see each other. They text, yes, and talk over the phone, but they’re both so busy with whatever preparation the holiday brings, that they can’t seem to find each other outside of their phone’s screen. That is, Derek had to work through his issues with Laura’s actions and then help his mom buy everything she needs for Christmas dinner (pre-ordering food, because his mom can’t cook for shit). Meanwhile, Stiles hangs out at Scott’s place, playing with Victor, making weird faces at him and making Allison laugh in the process; Scott tells him he is concerned because Allison hardly wants to separate from their baby and he wants to hold him, goddammit! Stiles mostly wants to hit him but what’s new.

The day before Christmas’ Eve, Stiles opens his door to a serious looking Derek Hale.

“Hey” he says, stepping aside and letting him in. “Are you ok? Did something happen?”

“No. No, nothing happened.” Derek answers, his shoulders relaxing a bit. “I was just getting frustrated at the house. And I missed you.”

“Aww, sweetheart.” Stiles say, touching his chest and looking touched.

“Is your dad home?” Derek asks, turning away from him, as he rolls his eyes at Stiles, but he can’t fool anyone. His cheeks are red.

“Nope. What do you say we order a large pizza and watch a couple of movies?”

“I say that he’s going to be able to _smell_ it.”

“I don’t care. By the time he comes home, there won’t be any pizza left for him to clog his arteries with.”

“He’s gonna be pissed.”

“That he will be… So?”

“Sure.”

By the time John Stilinski comes home, the lights of his house are off, so he thinks Stiles is already asleep. He tries to be quiet while opening and closing the door, and when he turns the living room’s lights on, the last thing he expects to see is Stiles on Derek Hale's lap kissing the breathing air out of him.

“Oh my god!” Stiles almost yells, as he stumbles out of Derek’s lap. He falls on the floor with a dry thud and looks up at Derek, who’s determined not to look behind himself. “Dad! Hi!”

“Son. Derek.”

“John.” Derek says, still not moving.

“Dad.”

“Son.”

There’s silence between them. John walks a few steps and finds that Derek’s hands are on his lap, looking intently at Stiles with a panicked expression. Stiles’ shirt is disheveled, his hair is a mess, and his pupils are still fully blown. Jesus Christ, why is this happening.

“…” John takes a deep breath, denies with his head, lets it out and says. “How long has this been happening?”

“Uh…” Stiles grimaces. “Um. For about… two months?” He finishes with the tiniest voice he’s ever heard.

“Two months.” John repeats.

“Two months.” Stiles says.

“And you didn’t tell me because…?”

“…” Stiles opens his mouth several times, closes it, tries to make some sound and decides to stay quiet.

“If it’s any consolation, John, my family didn’t know until we came back.”

That’s a lie, obviously, and Stiles knows Derek enough to know that if he’s not looking at his father, he can effectively lie without them getting caught.

“Hmm…” John looks at them and then turns to look at the pizza box on the coffee table. “That better still have a pizza in there for me.”

“Um… It will?” Stiles offers as he finally decides to stand, using Derek’s leg to push himself upward.

“I’m gonna take a shower, a very, _very long_ shower. And when I get back here, I better have a slice of meet lovers.”

“Sir, yes sir.” Stiles answers, grabbing Derek’s hand in the process of getting themselves out of the house.

Once the door is closed and they’re safe from the Sheriff’s look, they turn to look at each other and three seconds later they’re laughing hysterically. Stiles lets Derek’s hand go as he walks up to the Camaro. Derek stays behind, still standing on the Stilinski’s porch. He’s far away enough that Stiles can’t really catch his expression. He might need to get to the optometrist, reading glasses or not.

“You coming?” He asks, reclining his body a little bit on the passenger’s door.

“… Yeah.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELLO I AM A WHORE FOR COMMENTS
> 
> LOVE
> 
> ME
> 
> SOME
> 
> COMMENTS
> 
> THANK YOU <3


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have no excuse for myself other than working from home is shit. I wasn't able to set boundaries or schedules and instead got consumed by my job. Also, I was kind of blocked. Let's hope that with my upcoming vacation (a month, yay!) I'll be able to get this story where I want it to be.

After Christmas has passed, Derek and Stiles should have much more time to see each other, but that’s not really what happens. They text daily but they always seem to have some other plans that don’t allow them to see each other.

_I’m sorry, Lydia wants me to go shopping with her._

_Sorry, Laura asked me to take the kids to get ice cream._

_Scott asked me to buy some groceries for them._

_Mom said I haven’t baked with her in a while…_

_Isaac asked me to go ring shopping with him !!!!!_

_Cora wants to go cake tasting._

_… I think I’m gonna throw up. I don’t want to eat cake ever again._

A couple of days before New Year’s, Stiles and Derek have a plan. They’re going to one of the fanciest restaurants in Beacon Hills, almost at the outskirts of town. They’ve dressed up with pants instead of jeans, and button-downs instead of t-shirts (in Stiles’ case). They’re _ready_ to get away from their friends and family, Derek even picked Stiles up from his house, when Stiles gets a frantic call from Scott telling him that Allison pretty much stabbed herself while she was cooking and that they need to go to the ER.

“There’s so much blood, Stiles!”

Stiles tries to calm him down and turns to look at Derek, who silently understands the worried look on Stiles’ face and turns around.

“What do you need us to do? I’m with Derek, do you want us to drive you?”

“No, I need you to stay here with Victor.”

_“No!”_

Stiles hears Allison’s voice far away and Scott is not talking to them anymore.

“Alli, we _can’t _take Victor with us to the ER, he’s too small! He could get sick!”

_“I’m not leaving my baby!”_

“So, what, you’re going to lose your hand?” Scott snaps at her, and Derek and Stiles look at each other with wide eyes. “You won’t be able to hold him if we don’t go to the ER right now!”

“We’re almost there, buddy.” Stiles says, and he can hear Allison crying. Oh god.

“Thank you. I’ll get her stuff. See you soon.”

They stay silent for a couple of minutes and then Derek says:

“Have you ever heard Scott speak to her like that?”

“Nope. I’ve only ever heard him be that concerned when his mom fell down the stairs and cracked her skull. It was terrifying.”

The rest of the drive is silent and when they arrive, the door of the McCall-Argent household is already open.

“Alli, come on, they’re here!” they hear Scott yell when they get out of the car. “I’m sorry, guys, I know you wanted to go to 90 Milles. I’ll pay for your dinner.”

“Scott, calm down. Go get your wife and go to the ER, we’ll be okay here with Victor.”

“Thank you.”

Scott turns around and walks up the stairs to retrieve Allison, who is already near the top of the stairs. Her eyes are puffy and red but she’s not crying anymore. Her left hand is wrapped on one bloody cloth. Stiles smiles at her and reassures her that they’re going to be just fine. She just nods and gets out of the house.

“Victor is sleeping. He’ll maybe wake up in a couple of hours; if he does, check his diaper, warm up one of the bottles on the fridge and if that doesn’t calm him down, grab one of Allison’s shirt in our closet. That’ll do it.”

“Okay, we’ll do that. Go!”

“Thank you!”

*

After closing the door, Derek grabs the phone and calls to the restaurant to cancel the reservation. He explains that something happened, and that they had to stay at home, but that they would like to order either way. He looks up the menu on his phone, orders for himself and Stiles and then hangs up. He finds Stiles kneeling down on the kitchen, cleaning the blood on the floor. Derek gets another towel and kneels down with him, careful of not staining his own clothes.

“Scott wasn’t kidding when he said that there was a lot of blood.”

“No shit.”

They continue to work in silence as they clean, washing and squeezing the towels each time. When the kitchen is finally clean, Stiles takes both towels and looks for the bleach and some detergent powder; he sinks the towels on a bowl and comes back to the kitchen to Derek washing the dishes.

“What was she trying to do?”

“I think she was trying to open the coconut with a knife, and it went through.”

“Fuck.”

Derek hums and Stiles jumps and sits on the counter in the middle of the kitchen. When Derek turns around, Stiles is eyeing the fridge thoughtfully.

“What is it?”

“That is a big fridge.”

“Yes.”

“D’you think I can fit in it?”

Derek stares at him for a moment, then he smirks. “I bet you can’t.”

“Oh, it is on.”

And that’s how their delivery man finds them. Or, well, he doesn’t find them like that, but he has to ring the bell many times to get their attention, and by then, Victor is already crying. Derek opens the door and pays the man, while Stiles goes to the second floor to retrieve Victor. He comes back a few minutes later, baby on his arms, and looks at Derek with concern.

“His diaper is clean.”

“Let’s try with the bottle, then.”

Derek leaves the bags on the counter and takes a milk bottle out of the previously-full-of-Stiles fridge. He warms it up in the microwave and comes back a few minutes later, Stiles trying to calm Victor down by rocking him slightly. They go to the living room, sit down and try to get Victor to drink the milk. He starts, at first, and Derek and Stiles are relieved by the silence. But then he spits the nipple and starts crying again. Derek sighs and stands up, walking up the stairs in twos and coming back with a pajama shirt that’s clearly Allison’s.

Derek takes Victor as Stiles puts on the pajama, and then makes grabby hands. He’s stressed out, Derek can tell, but overall, he seems fine.

“You’re really good with kids,” Derek comments, and Stiles smirks at him.

“I would hope so, dude, I’m supposed to be completing my master’s to work properly with them.”

Victor almost immediately calms down and doesn’t push the bottle away when Derek pushes it near him again. He starts drinking it and then there’s the silence. Oh sweet, beautiful silence. Derek taps Stiles’ shoulder and when he turns his head around, Derek’s face is all up in his space. Stiles turns his head again, as Derek’s lips crash into his cheek and he laughs nervously, ignoring the frown Derek has on his forehead.

Victor finishes his bottle, and then Derek grabs him to burp him, walking up the stairs slowly and mumbling something under his breath. Stiles takes off Allison’s shirt and goes back to the kitchen to open the delivery bags. He takes out the cartons and grabs a couple of plates to serve them up. Derek comes back almost five minutes later, quietly, and whispers that Victor is asleep again; Stiles offers his hand up and Derek high fives him while he rolls his eyes.

Allison and Scott come back halfway through dinner and they tell them this epic story about how Allison almost kills her doctor because they didn’t want to put stitches on her hand. Scott thanks them profusely and promises that he’ll make it up to them. Derek tries to wave them off, but Stiles interrupts saying:

“Uh, of course you’ll make it up to us, dude! When Victor is older and you tell this story, you’ll tell him how awesome uncle Stiles and uncle Derek were and how well they took care of him too.”

“Guys!” Allison yells from upstairs. “Where’s my kitty pajama?”

“In here! I had to put it on to calm Victor down,” Stiles answers and Scott grimaces. “What?”

“That’s the pajama she uses to burp Victor because he _always_ throws up a little bit.”

“Oh…” Stiles takes a second and then he makes a disgusted face. “EWWWWW.”

Scott moves to open the fridge and Stiles looks at Derek terrified. Derek stands up.

“Well, we should get going.”

“Yeah! We have lots of things to do.” Stiles continues, standing up as well.

Both of them almost run to the door, when they hear a “GUYS!” coming from the kitchen. They open the door “WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO TO OUR FRIDGE!?”, they close the door.

“Bye, Scott!”


End file.
